What are Friends for?
by DeanBean
Summary: When a gunman shows up in the ER, and shots are fired, how far will the ER go to save one of their own?COMPLETE
1. Shots are fired

Disclaimer: The usual, I don't own ER, but I **_REALLY_** wish I did!

Summary: He couldn't understand when his life had gone so wrong.

Author Note: This has nothing to do with my other fic,

"_Another Dawn, Another Day"_

He really couldn't understand when his life had gone so wrong.

Was it when Danijela, Jasna and Marko were taken from him when the artillery shell hit the apartment, destroying everything he ever knew, and everyone he ever loved?

Was it when he left Croatia, the memories slowly killing him, and finally succeeding, because when he finally came to America he was not the same man that married his wife, read to his children, and comforted them when they cried. No, nobody needed him now.

Was it when Abby and him were on their first date and the mugger hit him over the head, when he got back up, the _need_ to protect Abby, he could have stopped hitting the muggers head when he went limp, but he couldn't stop himself, was he blinded by rage, taking out all the anger he had for the people that killed his family on him.

He remembered standing outside the trauma room, the detective looking him in the eye, telling him it was self defence……anyone who was there that night would have known it was NOT self defence, but what did it matter, that mugger was a nobody, with no name.

He remembered how he spent the next day at the police station trying to find out who the mugger was, if he could find family. He remembered the sense of guilt and shame that had clenched his soul when he stood looking over the lifeless body, the fist as tight around his soul now as it was then.

He remembered how Kerry Weaver told him he couldn't just not show up for work, he didn't care, looking back now he didn't know why he went back the next day.

He remembered how Abby came to his hotel room, told him to be quiet and spent the night in his bed, thinking now, probably out of pity.

Was it when Abby and him had that ugly break-up, him saying she was nothing special, her telling him he was married to a ghost. What hurt him more than hating him for not hating his wife was Abby in the arms of John Carter.

So here he stood, at the admit desk watching as a man, in his mid-thirties came into the ER brandishing a gun, blaming him and Carter for letting his daughter die. He stood about 10 feet away from Carter and himself and slowly aimed the gun at Carter, an din that second a million thoughts ran through Luka's mind, but 2 stood out above all else…

_Carter has Abbey, she needs him, I'm not needed, and anyway if anything happens I'll be with my family again…_

Before it even registered in his mind what he was doing, he pushed Carter out of the way and felt an agonizing pain in his chest before his body fell to the ground with a dull thud…

_ABBY'S P.O.V_

_All I could see was the gun pointed at John and Luka, I was about to call out for the lunatic to stop but before I had my mouth open Luka was pushing Carter out of the way as soon as the gunman shot…I thought he was Okay but he wavered and fell to the ground, I tried to scream but stood frozen still and all I could do was watch as Carter and Benton ran over to help him, please God let him be Okay these last few months I've noticed a change in him, and not a good one, he seemed to not be taking care of himself, he's lost a lot of weight, and appeared more distant at work, maybe after this I can help him,_

Carter and Benton ran over and turned Luka over as he had fell on his side.

His scrub top was already soaking with blood, lying in a pool around his motionless body; his eyes were shut tight and a pained expression on his pale face.

"Hey man, come open your eyes" Benton commanded, while placing his hand on the side of Luka's face and tapping it slightly.

"uggh…" groaned Luka, and his eyes flickered under his still tightly sealed lids.

Everyone in the ER, except a few of the patients, took no notice to the police running in and tackling the gunman to the ground.

"Someone get a gurney over here!" shouted Carter from his place on the floor, looking down at the man that had sacrificed his life to save his own, he knew his was going to do everything in his power to save Luka.

Malik came running over with a gurney and Carter and Benton carefully lifted Luka off the floor and placed him on to the gurney.

"Trauma 1 Now!" shouted Benton as they wheeled the gurney down the hall.

Please R&R

Hope you enjoy!


	2. Trauma room, STAT!

Disclaimer: The usual, I don't own ER, but I **_REALLY_** wish I did!

Summary: He couldn't understand when his life had gone so wrong.

Author Note: This has nothing to do with my other fic,

"_Another Dawn, Another Day"_

Chapter 2 – "Trauma room, STAT!"

"_Trauma 1 Now!" shouted Benton as they wheeled the gurney down the hall._

As soon as the gurney was pushed into trauma 1 the controlled chaos took station.

Carter, Benton, Haleh, Lydia, and Malik stood around the gurney and through the double doors entered Greene,

"Okay, what have we got?" he asked as he pulled on the latex gloves.

"It's Dr. Kovac" announced Haleh as she held Luka's hand in her own.

"What! What happened!" he asked as he rushed to the side of the gurney and peeled back Luka's eyelids and began to shine his pen light in them. He was not pleased with what he found as Luka's eyes did not react to the light.

"Damm he's in shock"

"Dr. Greene, he seems to be in a lot of pain" said Halah as she said as she stroked his face and hair with her other hand. She couldn't help but feel motherly as Luka lay there looking vulnerable, and fragile, his face pale and mouth open slightly.

"Okay, push 10 mg on an IV drip of morphine, STAT!" said Greene as he, Benton and Carter moved to check the entrance wound.

"Okay, we need to roll him, see if its went right threw" said Benton, but was interrupted when the monitors started bleeping, announcing that there was no pulse.

"He's in V-tach!" called Lydia.

By now a small congregation had gathered outside the doors of trauma 1. Among them was Abby, who was standing at the front with a horrified expression on her face, tears in her eyes and her hand covering her mouth to silence the cries as the monitor started to bleep. Beside her stood some of the other nurses, Chuney and Susan. The sound of a tap, tap, tap could be heard and then between Abby and Susan appeared Dr Kerry Weaver with a determined expression on her face, but also the signs of the tears that she was fighting to hold back. She took a deep breath and pushed the door open and entered.

As soon as Kerry walked through the doors Carter was announcing that he was starting compressions as Greene prepared the paddles.

"1…2…3…4…5" Carter spoke to himself as he was doing compressions, trying in vain to focus on the patient, not to think of him as the man that just saved his life.

"Okay, Clear!" Carter stepped back and watched as Greene placed the paddles to Luka's chest and it lurched upwards and fell back down.

"Normal sinus rhythm" Malik announced with an optimistic tone, with was soon crushed when Luka's eyes started to roll back into his head, his body convulsing violently.

"He's seizing, hold him still!" shouted Kerry as she placed her hands on Luka's torso.

Please R&R


	3. Toxscreen

Disclaimer: the usual applies, I don't own ER

Chapter 3: Tox-screen

Author's Note: This take place in early season 7, with changes to make it the way I wanted it, well that's my fanfiction for ya!

Some things to know – Abby is a nurse and Greene never had a brain tumour, Benton has Reece and Corday never came into the ER.

"_He's seizing, hold him still!" shouted Kerry as she placed her hands on Luka's torso._

Mark held Luka's torso with Kerry, Benton held down his legs with Malik, and Carter held his head.

"I don't understand he was fine!" said Greene trying to understand why Luka had suddenly started seizing.

"10 cc's diazpen now!" shouted Mark, and Lydia quickly followed the instructions.

The seizing stopped and everyone took a deep breath.

Kerry now remembered a case that Luka and she had worked on a few weeks ago.

_The patient started seizing uncontrollably, they administered the diazpen and Luka turned to Kerry and said, "It's the morphine, run a tox-screen, he could be taking something else that caused this reaction. When the results came back it showed that the patient had been on various narcotics and they used the charcoal before sending the patient up to surgery._

"Order a tox-screen now!"shouted Kerry, hoping that she was wrong.

"Why? What for?" asked Carter asked, confused at why she wanted to do this.

"Just do it Carter!" Carter was about to when he was interrupted by Greene,

"No wait, why do you want to run a tox-screen Kerry?"

"Because…sigh…a few weeks ago me and Dr Kovac were working on a patient, he started seizing…it happened because he had been taking narcotic's, that and the morphine together caused a seizure" Benton was about to say something when she quickly added, "I am not saying that is why this is happening, but we can not rule it out just because he is a fellow doctor"

"Okay, run the tox-screen, STAT" ordered Benton.

As they waited for results there was a tension in the air, from the fact that they were working on one of their own, and that he may have been taking narcotics.

Carter looked up and could see Abby outside the door, most of the other staff that had gathered there had gone back to work as there were still other patients to be seen; tears running down her cheeks, and shaking her head 'no'. He only hoped that she was right.

10 minutes later the results of the tox-screen were brought to them by one of the lab-technicians; he had a frown on his face and was slightly shaking his head,

"Sorry" with that he left the trauma room.

Kerry quickly scanned over the page, and handed it over to Benton and Greene.

"Okay, we need that charcoal now!" shouted Benton.

Kerry felt tears stinging her eyes as they put the tube down Luka's throat and started putting in the charcoal. The whole time she held his hand.

10 minutes later they were removing the tube, when the monitors once again started to bleep loudly.

"V-tach" shouted Carter

"Starting compressions" announced Greene, as once again the paddles were charged by Lydia.

"Clear!" said Benton as he placed the paddles on Luka's bloodied chest and once again watched as his body lurched off the gurney.

"Sinus-rhythm" announced Malik.

"Okay, tube him and someone tell the O.R we're bringing Dr. Kovac up now!" shouted Benton.

Carter went to the head of the gurney and started to put in the tube when Abby came inside the trauma room,

"Are you going to do the surgery Dr. Benton?"

"Yeah" he said as he placed his hand on her arm as a sign of comfort.

"Okay, he's tubed" said Carter and then Halah informed them that they had a O.R booked and they needed to get him up there.

"Okay, who's coming up" asked Benton as they put the machines on the gurney and pulled the rails on the sides up.

"I will, unless you want to go Abby" asked Halah as she walked over to the gurney and lifted one of Luka's hands in her own.

"No, it's okay, you go…page me when he get's out or if anything…you know…happens?"

"Sure honey, but I'm sure that Benton will take good care of him"

With everything said Benton, Halah, Greene and Kerry pushed the gurney into the elevator and brought him up to surgery.

R&R if you want to know what happens up in the O.R !


	4. The Surgery

Disclaimer: the same as all the chapters before this

Chapter 4: "The Surgery"

_With everything said Benton, Halah, Greene and Kerry pushed the gurney into the elevator and brought him up to surgery._

Once inside the elevator Kerry took hold of Luka's hand.

"I wonder what made him start doing it?" asked Halah as she stroked the side of his face, disturbed as how cold he was, due to the blood loss.

"Do what?" asked Greene as he stood at the top of the gurney looking down on Luka, he only realized now how little he actually knew him, _well after he comes out of surgery I will fix that, I'll go visit him_, _get to know him better._

The ding indicated that they had reached their chosen floor.

Kerry and Mark stood in the observatory, watching as Benton and Romano operated on Luka. They could see Halah, standing holding Luka's hand and watching every move the surgeons made.

One minute Benton was removing the bullet, they were getting ready to sew him up and then the shrill noise of the heart monitor could be heard.

_Benton's P.O.V_

Benton had just finished removing the bullet that had been lodged between the first two ribs of the left side of his chest, dangerously close to his heart.

The next moment the sound of the heart monitor filled the O.R.

"Someone charge those paddles, NOW!" shouted Romano,

"Clear!" he placed the paddles on Luka's chest again that night, if only needed to hold on for another 10 minutes and they would have him in the SICU. Luka's body lurched off the table and landed with a dull thud, the sound of the heart monitor still filling the O.R.

"Clear!"

Romano had to shock Luka three more times before the sound of the beeping of his heart could be heard again.

"Okay, lets close him up" said Benton, he was feeling physically and emotionally exhausted, so much had happened tonight, all he needed was to get Kovac a bed in the SICU and that would be his shift finished. Of course he would stay for a while, make sure everything was okay and then go home.

_12.47 am_

Abby was pacing in the lounge, Carter watching her from the couch.

"Why haven't I been paged yet, he should be out by now, unless…no, oh what if something's happened and their just not telling me" Abby ranted, and Carter got up off the couch and was about to tell her to calm down when Kerry and Greene walked through the door.

"Is he Okay?" Abby asked no one in particular.

"Sit down and we can talk about it"

Abby sat down on the couch beside Carter, holding his hand, tears running down her cheeks. Kerry and Greene sat at the chairs opposite.

"Luka is out of surgery and in the SICU…he flat-lined up in surgery and Romano had to shock him 5 times to get his heart beating again" Greene said while looking down at his hands, "he lost a lot of blood and the length of time he was unconscious we are not sure if he will make it through until morning"

Abby started to cry and Carter hugged her, tears running down his cheeks also.

"You can go and sit with him if you want" said Kerry while wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her lab coat.

"Sure, what room is he in?" Carter asked, Abby still clinging to him.

"I'll take you there myself, Benton is there with him now in case anything happens" Kerry said as she held the lounge door open.

R&R Please

Will Luka make it or will Cook County General lose a member of it staff?

Review and find out.


	5. Hanging on

Chapter 5: "Hanging on"

Kerry held the door open for Carter and Abby,

"Could you go and wait by the elevator, I need to speak with Mark for a moment"

"Sure" Carter said as he put his arm over Abby's shoulders.

"Mark, I'm probably going to stay there until morning…he shouldn't be alone" Kerry said trying to keep the tremble out of her voice.

"Sure, if you need anything, or anything happens page me" Mark said while giving her arm a comforting squeeze.

"Yeah" with that she walked over to where Carter and Abby were waiting and got inside the elevator.

_In the SICU – Luka's Room_

Kerry entered the room first, leaving Carter and Abby outside until she spoke with Peter.

"Hey, how's he doing" Kerry asked while she sat down on the chair at the opposite side of the bed from Peter and took Luka's hand in her own.

She was disturbed at how cold his hand was, knowing that he was unconscious and couldn't really feel the coolness, she pulled the blanket up further, careful not to irritate the bandage that covered the top of his chest.

"He's good, considering…" Peter said as he dragged a hand down his face, the signs of not sleeping evident in the way he was trying to suppress a yawn. "I really hope he can recover, I mean if it weren't for him, Carter could be lying here now, or worse…" he did not finish the statement knowing that the worst outcome was still highly possible for Luka.

"I know, I'm grateful, but…I think that he didn't really think about what he was doing when he pushed Carter out of the way, for God's sake's he's been taking narcotic's, and you can see he's not taking care of himself", Kerry said as she indicated to his visible ribs, "when he recovers he is going to need our support"

"If, he recovers Kerry" Peter was going to hate himself for saying this but he knew he had to, "you said so yourself, he hasn't been taking care of himself, therefore putting himself at risk of not making a full recovery, or, if making one at all" As Peter was saying this he had got out of his chair and was now by the door, Kerry had been staring at Luka's face the whole time, taking in what was being said.

"I'll tell Carter and Abby they can come in now" when he got no response he opened the door, and a few moments later Carter and Abby entered.

Sorry for not having such a long chapter, BUT the next one will be in both Abby and Carter's P.O.V's, and maybe if I get enough reviews you will find out if Luka survives or not.

Yes, I know I am evil, but heh, that's me for ya!


	6. Wake up

Chapter 6: "Wake up"

_SICU – Luka's Room_

"_I'll tell Carter and Abby they can come in now" when he got no response he opened the door, and a few moments later Carter and Abby entered._

_**Abby's P.O.V**_

_I walked into the room and the first thing I noticed was how pale and fragile he looked. You could tell, since he had to shirt or scrub top on, just how much weight he had lost, all of his ribs showing, more and less each time he took a breath. He had a tube sticking out of his mouth attached to the ventilator, helping him to breathe, his body too tired to do even that, and even though I have seen patients with ventilator's hundreds of times, it felt strange when it was someone you know. I walked up to the head of the bed and kissed his cheek before sitting down in the seat Benton previously occupied._

"_Hey, don't you think it's time you woke up?" I said while taking his hand in mine, my other stroking his face._

"_He's had a rough day Abby, rest is what he needs right now" Carter said while pulling a chair over._

"_I know…I would just feel better if I could talk to him, even for a few moments" I said with tears in my eyes, trying furiously not to let them fall._

"_What did Benton say?" Carter asked Weaver, while placing a hand on my shoulder._

"_He said that if he doesn't wake up by the morning, there is a great chance that he may not wake up at all" Kerry said not looking me in the face, just holding his hand, that's when I noticed that his hand twitched, slightly but still enough to send my heart soaring,_

"_Did you see that!" I asked Kerry, already knowing my answer as she looked me straight in the eyes._

"_Yes, Carter, call Mark Greene, he told me to get him if anything happened"_

_**Carter's P.O.V**_

_I sat listening as Kerry told me that Luka, the man that saved my life only hours ago, may never wake up again, I was about to start shouting when suddenly his handed twitched in hers, I know it's nothing significant but when your friend is lying in a hospital bed, anything is BIG._

"_Yes, Carter, call Mark Greene, he told me to get him if anything happened" as soon as the word's had left her lips I was out of that room in a matter of seconds._

_I ran into the hall and told the nearest nurse to page Dr Greene, that it was an emergency._

_I ran back into the room and Abby and Weaver were both standing at the head of the bed,_

"_That's it come on, open your eyes" I heard Weaver say, in a strange motherly tone._

At that moment Mark ran through the door, panting and out of breath,

"What…happened?" he asked, bent forward slightly trying to catch his breath.

"Mark, look whose awake" Kerry said as she moved out of the way so Carter and Mark could both see the flickering of Luka's eyelid's before they opened fully.

Please R&R


	7. To Help Him

Chapter 7: "To Help Him"

"_Mark, look whose awake" Kerry said as she moved out of the way so Carter and Mark could both see the flickering of Luka's eyelid's before they opened fully._

Luka's eyes opened and he blinked then a few times, before he looked around the room, the faces of Kerry Weaver, Abby Lockhart, John Carter and Mark Greene all looking down at him. He had a confused look on his face, and was about to speak when Mark came to the top of the bed and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"You can't talk right now, your on a ventilator, but I could take it out now for you now?" Greene said while smiling, happy that Luka was awake but knowing he was not out of the woods yet.

"Okay, you know the drill, I want you to take a deep breath and then blow out really hard, okay, 1…2…3, good" Luka started coughing and Kerry placed the oxygen mask over his mouth.

"Your throat will be sore for a day or so, so remember to try and not talk much" Kerry said as she removed the oxygen mask, as he had caught his breath, and placed a straw to his lips, "Take small sips…that's good" Kerry could not help but feel motherly towards him as he lay looking so vulnerable, so fragile, with various tubes attached to him.

By now Carter and Abby had sat back down, not wanting to crowd around him, when Benton entered the room. He walked over beside Kerry and squeezed Luka's shoulder as a sign of comfort and thanks.

"Hey man, how you feeling? You gave us quite a scare down there"

Luka just smiled slightly and his eyes closed half way, his body exhausted from the night's events, too tired and sore to speak.

"I can see your exhausted so, I'm just gonna check your bandage and then you can rest" Benton said, but Luka's eyelids had already slid closed and he had fallen asleep.

Greene motioned for the other's to come outside, not wanting to disturb Luka, even though it was obvious he would not wake up for a while yet.

"I think we should let Luka rest, he's had a hell of a day to put it lightly, and we can have a meeting tomorrow, see what's going to be done about this…"

"But, someone should stay tonight…" Abby started to protest when Kerry stopped her,

"I'll stay tonight, I have been on the least tonight, you go home and get rest, we can hardly help anyone if we aren't rested ourselves" Kerry said as Benton came out of Luka's room.

"Everything seems to be okay, but it should still be checked every hour, or two…now I should be getting back to Reece, I'll see you all tomorrow"

Everyone said goodbye and then Kerry went back inside Luka's room. She pulled the chair closer to Luka's bed and held his hand in both of hers, stroking his face and hair.

Please R&R

Because I think I have been very good with these speedy updates, LOL )


	8. Remember?

Disclaimer: I still don't own ER, but if I'm really good, then maybe someday_… (Stares into to space daydreaming)_

Authors Note: Luka is 25 years old in my story for reasons in my story. No one knows about the death of Luka's family, not even Kerry.

Chapter 8: "Remember?"

_Everyone said goodbye and then Kerry went back inside Luka's room. She pulled the chair closer to Luka's bed and held his hand in both of hers, stroking his face and hair._

**The next morning**

Kerry had sat up the whole night, making sure not to fall asleep, as Luka's condition was still very critical, even though he had woken up, not wanting to be asleep if anything happened. She still had his hand in her own and was unconsciously tracing the visible bones in his hands. It was only now, when he did not have a long sleeved shirt, or a scrub top and shirt on, that his arms were visible. She turned his arm over slightly so that she was able to see underside of his forearm; she had to stop the cry that escaped her throat when she saw the various track-marks, from were he had been injecting himself. She wiped away the tears that had escaped her eyes, gave Luka's hand a squeeze of support for him; even if he couldn't feel it, and of comfort to herself, knowing that she would do everything she could to help him make a full recovery.

**A few hours later**

Kerry was standing by the window of Luka's room, drinking a cup of coffee which one of the nurses' had brought her when Halah came into the room.

"Dr Weaver, Dr Greene told me to tell you that there will be a meeting down in the lounge in half an hour" Halah said from the door, before she walked over to Luka's bed and kissed him on the forehead and lifted his hand, brushing his hair out of his eyes, even though it was not bothering him.

"Poor kid, his had it rough, I can only pray he'll make it through this" Halah said with tears in her eyes. Kerry put her empty styrofoam cup in the bin before going over to the bed,

"Halah, I know this is a lot to ask, but, would you mind staying with Luka while I'm at the meeting, it's just with him not woken up yet, if he wakes up he could be confused and it would be best if he wasn't alone?" while Kerry was saying this Halah had already pulled a chair over and was sitting, holding his hand and stroking his hair again, "No, it's no problem at all, my shift doesn't start for another two hours anyway" Kerry thanked her before leaving the room to freshen up before the meeting.

**In the Lounge_ (Greene, Benton, Carter and Abby are sitting around the table)_**

"We can start the meeting once Weaver arrives, she's probably on her way right now" as soon as the words had left Mark's mouth, Kerry walked through the door,

"Sorry for keeping up waiting so long, Halah was just taking over from me" Kerry said while pulling out her chair and sitting down beside Mark and Benton.

"Okay, so lets get started" Abby said, wanting to get this over and done with.

**One hour later**

"Okay, so we have come to the decision, once Luka is out of the hospital he can go to the Atlanta Rehab centre, and then if everything goes well there he can come back to work" Greene said with an optimistic look on his face, everything should work out, except for the fact that Luka may object to going to Atlanta, and if it came to that he would deal with it then. Everyone got up and was ready to leave when Abby remembered something,

"Wait, who's going up to sit with Luka now?" Abby was going to panic when Kerry quickly reminded her that Halah was up with him now, "But what about when Halah has to go to her shift?" Abby was starting to get panicked because neither she nor Carter could go up because they were still in the middle of their shifts, "I'll go up and sit with him, my shift ends now anyway" Greene said while placing his hand on Abby's arm to calm her down, when Greene' s pager started beeping,

"He's awake" He said and all of them started for the elevator.

**Inside Luka's Room **

Halah was sitting on the chair hold Luka's hand and stroking his hair, when his eyelids began to flicker, "Honey, are you waking up?" Halah said as she got out of her chair and stood at the head of the bed, gently squeezing his hand. Luka's eyes flicked again before he drowsily opened them, Halah had already rang the bell to get a nurse and when she came running into the room she told her to page Dr Greene immediately.

"Where am I?" Luka rasped out and coughed slightly, his throat still sore from being intubated. Just then Greene, Benton, Kerry, Carter and Abby came into the room. Benton, Kerry and Greene went to the head of the bed while Carter and Abby stayed more to the bottom so as not to crowd around him. "He asked me where he was" Halah told Greene,

"Hey Luka, you don't know where you are?" Greene asked, trying to give him time to think before he answered; after a few moments Luka just shook his head that he didn't.

"You're in the hospital; do you remember why you're in the hospital?" Greene asked, using a tone that you would use for a confused and frightened child, hoping that telling him he was in the hospital would help him to remember.

"Chest hurts" Luka said and Greene gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze,

"You got shot; remember you pushed Carter out of the way?" Greene hoped that Luka would remember something, even a small detail, because if not, his condition could be a lot more serious than what they had first anticipated. Luka blinked a few times, seemingly fighting to stay awake, "Yeah…is he…he okay?" Luka asked trying to get the sentence out, but he throat too sore.

"Yeah, I'm okay, thanks to you" Carter said as he walked closer to the end of the bed and gave Luka's hand a small squeeze before putting his arm back around Abby's waist.

"Now Luka, I'm going to need to do a nureo exam" Greene said as he got out he penlight, he shone it into Luka's eyes, his response much improved from down in the trauma room, but still a bit sluggish, "Good, now I need you to follow my finger with your eyes" he motioned his finger from left to right and then up and down, the response still slightly slow, but that could be down to the fact that he had been unconscious a considerable amount of time, and that he was on morphine, but he still needed to check to be safe.

"Now we need to check that bandage" Benton said as he pulled on his latex gloves; he lifted up the dressing and when he touched a tender spot Luka took a sharp breath, "Sorry about that, but, everything seems to be fine, no infection, but we still have to keep an eye on it" Benton said as he applied a new dressing, careful not to cause too much pain.

"Well it looks like you're fighting to stay awake so we'll let you get some rest now," Kerry spoke for the first time since entering the room, and pulled the blanket up slightly, and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead before walking over to the door.

Halah then walked over and gave him a kiss on the forehead also and walked over to the door and stood beside Kerry. Abby walked over to the head of the bed and gave Luka a gentle hug, careful not to irritate the wound and kissed him on the check before whispering in his ear, "I am so glad you are okay", she then went and stood beside Kerry and Halah, fighting to keep the tears from coming but was unable to when Halah put her arm around her.

Carter walked to the head of the bed and gave Luka a squeeze on the shoulder before laughing and saying, "Don't think I'm gonna kiss you too", Luka tried to laugh but was too tired and smiled before yawning. Benton patted him on the shoulder and everyone left the room for the exception of Greene who stayed and kept watch over Luka to make sure he was okay; he took Luka's hand in his own, as _that seemed to be what you did when you were staying with a sick friend in hospital, right? _Mark thought with a silent giggle.

**Midnight**

Mark had been light sleep/nap for about 2 hours, when he felt Luka's hand shaking in his. He went to the top of the bed and placed his hand on Luka's forehead and felt a cold sweat.

"Shit he has a fever!" Greene said while paging Benton.

Please R&R


	9. Déjà vu

Chapter 9: "Infection"

"_Shit he has a fever!" Greene said while paging Benton._

He noticed that his whole body seemed to be shaking, and knowing it was chills and his temperature was probably high.

Greene took his hand off of Luka's forehead and took the ear thermometer off of the wall. He placed it in Luka's ear and waited for the beep before reading the temperature,

"102.3" Greene read aloud to himself _(at least that's what he thought)_, not aware that Benton had entered the room, a worried expression on his face,

"What do you think is wrong?" Benton asked while advancing towards the bed, making Mark jump slightly as he had not noticed that he had entered. Benton walked up to the side of the bed, and put on a pair of latex gloves,

"I'm not sure, it could be an infection from surgery, or just the body's natural way of fighting, and I am definitely hoping for the second" Greene said while wetting a face cloth and draping it on Luka's forehead, hoping it would cool him down slightly.

Benton lifted up the bandage and began checking that everything was okay; but when he lifted up the bandage there was some blood on the underside, and two of the stitches had came out slightly and were bleeding.

"Damn!" Benton shouted and Mark looked at him worried, "The stitches came out, he'll need surgery, make sure that there is no internal damage." Mark knew that the stitches probably came out from Luka shaking with the chills, and being so thin it would have been easier to rip them. He knew that it was going to be tough on Luka to have surgery again as his body was already so weak and he was only after having major surgery, the chances of making it through the surgery would be low, and the chance of having internal damage would just complicate things even more.

"Okay, call the O.R, and tell them I need a room, STAT!" Benton said on the


	10. The End

Chapter 10: "The End"

_She knew it was the only way that he would wake up, and the sooner he did that, the sooner he could start to recover again._

The hissing of the ventilator filled the room, with the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor. Luka lay on the bed, his chest rising and falling as oxygen was forced into his lungs. His face was pale, and contrasted with his dark hair and lashes. Kerry Weaver sat in the hard, plastic chair keeping vigil over Luka, holding his hand and keeping him company, hoping and praying that he would wake up soon. She noticed how vulnerable and fragile he looked with various tubes and wires attached to his body; he had 2 bags off blood, an IV, he was attached to a heart monitor and the ventilator tube was sticking out of his mouth, he also had a huge bandage across the top half of his chest. Kerry had seen patients in worse condition, but due to the fact that she knew Luka it made it harder to see him like this.

Kerry was still sitting in the chair, holding Luka's hand when Benton came into the SICU room along with Greene. Benton walked to the head of the bed and took Luka's other hand in his own.

"How's he doing?" Benton asked Kerry, "Good, his fever came down a little, but he still hasn't woken up yet" Greene pulled a chair up and sat beside Kerry,

"He should wake up soon, we need to give the atheistic time to wear off" Greene said as he gave Kerry's arm a squeeze.

**Several Hours Later**

Greene, Benton and Kerry had been sitting in the room when Luka's eyes started to flicker; Kerry went to the head of the bed, hoping that he was waking up, but her hopes where shattered when the monitors started to bleep loudly, and Luka's body began to convulse violently on the bed, Kerry steadied his head, while Greene held his torso, Benton called the nurse, and then went to help keep him still.

"He's having a Grand Mal Seizure!" Greene shouted over the shrill of the heart monitor.

The nurse came running into the room where Kerry ordered her to get 10 cc's of diazepan. The nurse came running back 2minutes later with the needle in her hand and gave it to Kerry, who injected it into his IV. It took only moments before the drug took effect and the seizure stopped, but the shrill of the heart monitor still filled the room.

"Charge the paddles" Greene shouted, and placed the paddles to Luka's chest. Luka's body lurched off of the bed before falling back down with a dull thud.

**45 minutes Later**

"Pump that empi in!" Benton shouted as he was performing compressions,

"Charge to 360! Clear!" Greene placed the paddles on Luka's chest and watched as after numerous times being shocked, it fell back down and the heart monitor continued its shrill beeping. Greene looked over at Kerry saw the tears running down her cheeks. He was about to shock Luka again when he felt Kerry's hand cover his; he looked up and saw as she shook her head 'no',

"He's suffered enough…let him be with his family" Greene felt the tears stinging his eyes as Kerry said this and placed the paddles back down. He cleared his throat and looked up at the clock above the bed,

"Time of Death, 12:06 am" he switched off the heart monitor and the room was filled with silence, apart from the sound of the three doctors pulling off there gloves.

Kerry walked to the top of the bed and lifted Luka's hand in her own,

"You can be with your family now, you can finally rest" she kissed his hand before placing it back down on the bed. Benton helped her extubate him, while Greene went down to the ER to tell everyone.

**Down in the ER**

The ER was not very busy tonight; at admit Frank was standing arguing with Jerry, Abby and Carter where talking, and Susan, Lydia and Halah were gossiping. Carter was the first to notice the presence of Mark Greene.

"Hey, did Luka wake up?" Carter asked and he got worried when Greene frown deepened and he shook his head slowly,

"Tonight Luka suffered a Grand Mal Seizure; we managed to control it but…" Greene was unable to continue past the lump that was forming in his throat,

"But what" Frank asked, having no patience whatsoever,

Greene cleared his throat before continuing, "Luka's heart stopped beating, and we shocked him and tried everything we could for 45 minutes…Luka died at 12:06 am this morning" Greene averted his eyes to the ground as he watched Abby scream and Carter grab her stroking her hair to comfort her, silent tears cascading down his own cheeks.

"Can we go and say goodbye?" Abby asked quietly, sounding nothing like the doctor she was, but more like a lost little girl.

"Sure"

**In Luka's Room**

Abby was sitting in the chair by the bed holding Luka's hand, Carter sitting at the opposite side. Abby just studied his face; it was extremely pale, his dark hair falling onto it and contrasting as it was so dark. He face was gaunt and slack, his mouth agape and lips pale and dry. If it was not for the coldness of his skin you would think he was sleeping.

"You finally look at peace" Abby said as she placed a kiss on his forehead, and squeezed his hand before leaving the room.

Carter walked to the head of the bed and squeezed Luka's hand,

"Thank you, I will never forget that you died saving my life"

Carter and Abby both exited the room with a final glance back at their friend, glad that he was finally reunited with his wife and children.

That was the end, I decided to end it to concentrate on my other story, _Another Dawn, Another Day,_ because I felt that this story was going nowhere, and that my other one was.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, PLEASE R&R.


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